Archive for June, 2008
Check That Vinyl Siding Before You Buy A Home
June 21st, 2008 Categories: Buying a Home, Home Inspections
I was at a home inspection with a buyer yesterday for a brand new home they purchased in North Raleigh. This particular home has vinyl siding and the inspector discovered that it was too tight.
Have you ever seen a home where the vinyl siding has buckled? Especially during the hot North Carolina summer days. If so, this was most likely because the siding was installed too tight. Our inspector told us that every piece should be able to move 1/4″ to 1/2″ when you grab the edge and give it a good pull.
We tugged on every single piece of siding we could reach, on all four sides of the home, and not a single piece moved. The inspector took us to a home under construction right next door and every piece we pulled on moved at least 1/4″ or so. This was a great object lesson and really illustrated the difference between a proper installation and an improper one.
Our home inspector speculated that the installer either nailed the nails too tight or failed to nail them in the centers of the slots. Or maybe he did both. Vinyl siding is designed to be installed in such a way that it can move slightly when it expands and contracts, or as the house settles over time. This eliminates the buckling effect. The photo at the right illustrates the correct way to nail the siding.
It left as is, the very least that would happen is that cosmetically the siding would be unattractive as it bowed out in various places in an attempt to relieve the pressure caused by the expansion. Worst case, several pieces could come loose allowing water to enter the walls. Don’t even want to think about the long term implications of that.
This one discovery paid for the cost of the home inspection… many times over. Now we have powerful evidence to present to the builder that will help us convince him that he needs to fix the siding. And the fix could very well be to pull it all off and reinstall it. But, whatever the fix, it’s the right thing to do for the buyer.
Owning a home will cost you far less over time if you can make sure it was built properly. And new homes aren’t perfect. Unfortunately, people build homes and sometimes they make mistakes, or unknowingly use defective materials. It pays to have an agent who can connect you with a good inspector. And it always pays to have a home inspection.
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Making offers and attending walk-thrus and home inspections
June 20th, 2008 Categories: Odds and Ends
It’s going to be a very busy Friday. I have two walk-thrus to attend, a home inspection, and a offer on a relocation property to negotiate. Relocation offers are very time consuming and the relocation companies do everything they can to strip away my buyer’s rights and protection that are provided in our standard North Carolina offer to purchase and contract. This is going to consume a good bit of mental bandwith. More on relocation offers and negotiations in another article.
One walk-thru is for my personal home. That’s right, the Realtor just purchased a new home. I think all Realtors should be required to do this every few years. I now have a fresh, very personal appreciation for what my clients go through when purchasing a new home.
One big surprise along the way was that we found high radon levels and had that remediated. It figures that with all the warnings I write about this subject that I would buy a house with high radon levels myself. Actually, this part of the process hasn’t been too bad. The local remediation company is great and they know exactly what they are doing. I’ll have to do an article with all the details of the process in the next few weeks.
And of course here we are a few days from closing and there is still more on the builder’s punch list that I would like for there to be. I’ll have to admit that part is fairly stressful. I’m seeing first hand the challenge that any builder faces with their sub contractors and getting them to correct what appear to be simple issues. Sometimes the cure is worse than the disease.
Hey… that’s okay though… we’re almost there and have a great builder who is on top of everything. And as I mentioned, it’s great experience for me as a Realtor to get this fresh peek at the process from the perspective of the home buyer.
Well, back to work for now. Have an awesome weekend!
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More Proof That Print Advertising Does Not Sell Houses
June 18th, 2008 Categories: Selling a Home
Several years ago I used to get lots of questions from clients regarding what newspapers and other print media I used to advertise homes for sale. There was a time when I used Homes & Land Magazine as well as the Raleigh News and Observer as a big part of advertising homes that I listed for sale here in the Raleigh area. When I came to Keller Williams Realty about three years ago, as part of the business culture here, I was encouraged to track every single detail of my business and measure results over time. When I did this with print media advertising, I was amazed by the results.
At that time I was spending about 40% of my advertising budget on the newspaper and homes magazines. I measured results over a six month period and discovered to my dismay that I could not attribute one single sale to print media advertising. I immediately changed a few things.
From day one in this business I had used the Internet to promote my listings and generate leads for my seller clients. The detailed analysis and tracking that the Keller Williams business model encouraged me to follow revealed that almost every single sale could be tied to a listing’s exposure on the Internet in some way. Many times the connection was very direct and clear.
Two years ago I went cold turkey and stopped using print media advertising altogether. My sales have increased year over year and my days on market continue to beat the average for the Raleigh real estate market.
Online advertising works. Print advertising simply does not.
The National Association of Realtors (NAR) data confirms my experience. According to exhaustive studies by NAR, 79% of home buyers used the Internet as a key information source during their home search. And 24% of all home buyers first saw the home they purchased on the Internet. The difference between the 79% and 24% were buyers who first found out about the home they purchased from their agent, who of course used the powerful MLS online database to research homes to show their clients.
In the same study, less than 5% of buyers first saw the home they purchased in a print newspaper advertisement.
The NAR study was done in 2006. I wonder how these numbers have changed in the past 18 months?
The number 3 newspaper publisher in the country, McClatchy, just announced it is cutting 1,400 jobs, 10% of its work force, due to dramatic reductions in advertising revenue. The local Raleigh newspaper, the News and Observer, is owned by McClatchy. The News and Observer will eliminate 70 jobs, about 7% of its workforce.
My sincere sympathy to anyone at the News and Observer who is caught up in this, and ends up losing a job as a result. As the Internet continues to mature and develop, this shift from print to online advertising will likely continue. It would be wise to be prepared for more turnover.
I learned my lesson several years ago. Online advertising sells houses. It sells houses here in Raleigh and it sells houses nationwide. Worldwide for that matter. My clients expect and deserve my very best. I will continue to invest in online advertising of listings and am very excited about some brand new, very consumer focused tools to accomplish this that are just around the corner. Stay tuned for more details!
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Raleigh Makes Kiplinger’s List of 10 Best Cities to Live Work and Play
June 17th, 2008 Categories: Relocation, Why Move to Raleigh?
We have always had lots of relocation business here in the Raleigh area. People seem to relocate to Raleigh from all over the world. Our population has grown 20% over the last seven years.
I’ve personally helped people relocate here from almost every state in the country. There are lots of really good reasons for this, but one that is mentioned again and again is the favorable press we get by being included in lists of best cities in the USA.
The most recent list we have been honored on is Kiplinger’s List of 10 Best Cities to Live, Work and Play. The Kiplinger study looked for the very best cities with strong economies, abundant jobs, reasonable living costs, and plenty of fun things to do. They also made their determination of best cities based on key ingredients for a strong probability of future success.
I’ve lived here all my life, so I tend to get a little used to things and probably take many of the things cited in the Kiplinger study for granted. Fortunately, I get reminded of what a special place this is when I help dozens of great families relocate to Raleigh each year.
People are genuinely excited to move here. Many of them are very brave too. I cannot tell you how many people I have helped relocate to Raleigh who have absolutely no connection to this area other than a desire to create a great life for themselves in a place full of opportunity.
Thinking about relocating? Click here for a free relocation package, full of maps and area info. If you want to talk to a native about what it’s like to live here, feel free to give me a call at 919-602-7000 anytime. I hope to see you in Raleigh real soon!
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Why Do Realtors Have So Many Phone Numbers?
June 6th, 2008 Categories: Odds and Ends
Hello everyone. Sorry for the lack of articles this week! It has been such a busy week with new listings, closings, and some really great new buyer clients whom I’m helping find their next home. I know, it’s no excuse.
You want to know what really slows me down when things get busy? Having to dial way too many phone numbers to reach one of my fellow agents! As a member of a cooperative real estate community here in Raleigh, I pride myself in being helpful to other agents when they need to know something about one of my client’s homes listed for sale. And for the most part, my associates are very helpful when I need to know something about one of their listings. But I wish someone could explain to me why some of the other Realtors in the Raleigh market need so many phone numbers!!!
With the proliferation of mobile phones, and many agents doing what I have done, which is to simply use my mobile phone as my primary communication device, it is getting a little better. But there are still way too many hold outs from the old school who have 3 or more phone numbers listed on their business cards and websites. This confuses me. Just think what it must do for any potential client trying to reach them.
I recently had the need to contact a very successful agent in our market, so I Googled his name to find his website. Once I found his main page, I was presented with no less than FIVE PHONE NUMBERS! This is insane. I froze in my tracks for a few minutes. I started reading through all the numbers and trying to figure out which one to start with. Did he list them in the order of highest probability that I would actually get him on the phone? He even had a separate number for his voice mail!
After the initial fear of having to dial five phone numbers had abated a bit, I came to my senses and just dialed his mobile number. Of course he didn’t answer. I left a message and got a call back within a few hours. Nice guy. He was very helpful and got the answers to my client’s questions right away. How did such a seemingly successful, smart guy end up with such a confusing hodge podge of phone numbers?
I started to ask if I had messed up his system by leaving a message on his mobile number rather than dialing the one he had clearly marked on his website as voice mail. Does this guy have five different voice mailboxes? Does he check them all?
If you are one of my fellow Raleigh Realtors who reads my blog on a regular basis, and you have more than one phone number, do yourself a favor and get rid of the excess numbers. You only need one!
I have won business from clients precisely because I’m so easy to reach. There’s just one number. And I answer it if at all possible. Don’t make it too hard for someone to get you on the phone to discuss the possibility of buying or selling a home.
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